(This takes place during Chapter V of 'Fireflies': The Chat)

“Girls. We need to talk.” Dash motioned her head towards the door, the subtle gesture being enough for the others to pick up on what she meant. “Now.” Within moments all six of the girls had moved upstairs and into Dash’s room. They all found places that were comfortable for them, and then all eyes settled on the de facto speaker of the meeting.

Pinkie was the first to speak up. “So, Dashie, what’s going on? Why do you want to talk to us about the door?” Dash let out a groan as she put her face in her palm.

“Pinkie, I don’t think that Dash wants to talk to us about the door.” Twilight’s gaze was focused on Dash as she spoke, her posture betraying nothing, but her eyes sparkled with interest. “I think... No, I know that she wants to talk to us about Icarus.” Dash nodded in response, and Twilight smiled. “See. Like I said, the topic for today is Icarus.”

“Yeah. More to the point, though, it’s about our ongoing bet. I... I won.”

Applejack simply snorted at that, prompting a harsh glare from the pegasus. “Sugarcube, you’re going to have to tell us what happened. The rules of our wager are pretty specific.”

“She’s right, Dash.” Rarity spoke up this time. “We made certain that there was little room for interpretation on this. Either you did win, or you didn’t win. There’s not really much room for a ‘maybe.’”

Applejack still had a smirk on her face when she gestured at Dash. “So? Tell us what happened.”

“Well, we went on a run this morning. Pretty standard stuff, a bit of stretching before we started, and then we got going. Unlike the last time, though, I kept his pace, rather than setting my own. I knew how he felt the last time, so I wanted to make sure that it didn’t happen again.” Dash looked down for a moment, idly fiddling with her hands. “Anyway, we were heading through the jungle, and he started to slow down some, probably to deal with the roughness of the road. So, we were going along, and I wasn’t too winded to talk, so I asked him a question.

“I asked him what the he and Pinkie were up to last night, since I didn’t really think that Pinkie told us... everything.”

“Dashie! I wouldn’t lie to you! I told you everything that happened, and you know it!”

“Yeah, but I wanted to know what Icarus would say! I...” She looked at all the other girls for a moment before she slumped into the chair that was behind her. “I was jealous of what happened between the two of you, and I wanted to see if I could use that to my advantage.” Dash looked at all the girls for a moment, her gaze lingering on Pinkie for just a moment before she continued. “Icarus told me pretty much the same thing as you did, Pinkie. Except that I didn’t want to accept it from him. I got angry with him, and he snapped back at me. Then I snapped back, and he nearly stormed off. Instead of leaving, though, he did that whole staring at the sky thing he does.”

Fluttershy tentatively raised a hand. “From what I’ve seen he only does that when he’s trying to keep calm. In all the times I’ve seen him do that it’s the worst when it’s one of us.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight’s gaze switched quickly from Dash to Fluttershy at this newly revealed information. “How is it worse when it’s us, versus someone else?”

“Well, we all like him, and he likes all of us. But when we do something that bothers him, it hits him harder than if, say, Lyra bothered him. We were his first friends in Ponyville, and I think that he might use us as a judging point for how we should treat each other. Whenever we mess up, it clashes with how he sees us.”

Twilight jumped in. “Not that I’m proud of it, but Icarus and I have had arguments about a great number of things. He never reacted quite that way any of those times.”

“That’s because it was something expected.” Rarity smiled as she looked between the girls. “When it’s expected, he doesn’t react. But, in this case, for instance, Icarus told Rainbow the truth. When she failed to trust him, he probably tried to argue his point, correct, Dash?” A nod from Rainbow Dash prompted a continuation. “And then, in response you just got louder, and angrier?”

“Yeah. And that was when he nearly left. I didn’t let him leave, though. I... I didn’t let him stay that way for long.” Silence engulfed the group for a moment, and then Dash continued. “Anyway, after that, I led the two of us to a waterfall in the jungle, and we hung out there for a while, and we talked. After we talked we...” Dash’s cheeks flushed as she spoke. “We kinda... We did it.”

“It?” This came from Pinkie, her face indicating her honest confusion.

“You know... It.”

Rarity sighed before she looked at Dash. “She’s talking about sex, Pinkie. Although that alone doesn’t win the contest, Dash. I do hope you realize that.”

“Yeah, I know that sex doesn’t count. But he said the magic word. And that means that I win.”

Twilight cleared her throat, drawing the gazes of the others to her. “Context matters, Dash. What, specifically, did he say?”

“Oh. Um... Hold on...” Several moments passed before she managed to remember what, exactly, had been said. “‘I’d love to, Dashie.’ That’s what he said. And that totally counts.”

Applejack shook her head, her smile growing just a bit wider. “‘Fraid that doesn’t count, ‘Dashie.’ Wrong context. He didn’t say he loved you, he said that he’d love to do ‘it’ with you. And that isn’t the same thing.”

“Yeah it is!”

“I’m sorry, Dash, but we were quite clear when we made this bet. He didn’t specifically say that he loves you.” Twilight didn’t share Applejack’s enthusiasm. “While I can understand that you might have seen it that way, it’s not the same thing.”

“You weren’t there! You didn’t see the way he looked at me!” Dash’s volume was rising, but she didn’t even realize it.

“Dashie, last night I thought he’d say it too, but he didn’t.” Pinkie’s frown matched Twilight’s, although she didn’t seem quite that upset about it. “It’s not you, Dashie, it’s all of us.”

“He said it!” Her shout seemed to linger in the air, and it took several long minutes of silence for anyone to speak again. “I... I’m sorry. I just... I want to win, but at the same time...”

Applejack slowly stood, and moved over to Dash, leaning over to look squarely at the Pegasus. “I understand, Dash. But we can’t rush him any more than we can rush a river. Just like the river, Icarus will get where he’s going eventually, and there’s nothing any of us can do to make that come any sooner.”

“We shouldn’t really be up here for so long with Icarus around. He’s here to relax, not worry about us fighting, and I am pretty sure that he heard your shout, Dash.” The others nodded at Fluttershy’s suggestion, and they all slowly rose, save for Dash. “You all go and try and act normal. I want to talk some with Dash on my own.”